Ethical Issues Surrounding the $40 Billion Texas Education Fund
Susan Carroll and Buck Wood
HESS Club
5430 Westheimer Ct., Houston, TX 77056
Gather at 11:30 a.m. for conversation. Meeting will start at noon and end at 1:15 p.m.
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Susan Carroll
Houston Chronicle award winning journalist
Susan Carroll is an investigative/projects reporter with the Houston Chronicle. Carroll has investigated a wide range of immigration issues while at the Chronicle, documenting abuses and substandard conditions at immigration detention centers.
She previously covered the U.S.-Mexico border for the Arizona Republic and the Tucson Citizen, twice earning the highest honor for print journalists in Arizona, the Arizona Press Club's Virg Hill Journalist of the Year. In 2012, Carroll was named Print Journalist of the Year by the Houston Press Club.
Buck Wood
Austin-based attorney, leading legal voice in election and ethics in government issues
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A founding partner of Ray & Wood, Randall Buck Wood is a nationally recognized expert on school finance, ethics, and election law. Buck has tried dozens of cases before the Texas Supreme Court, and since 1992, has served as co-counsel for the 125 Plaintiff-Intervenor school districts in the on-going Edgewood school finance lawsuit. Buck also serves as the General Counsel to the Equity Center, an association of over 500 below-average-wealth school districts committed to ongoing improvements in Texas public school funding as well as special counsel to the Texas Association of School Boards on the state’s ethics and lobby disclosure statutes. Prior to founding the firm, Buck served as Director of the Elections Division of the Office of the Secretary of State from 1969 to 1972 where he was in charge of enforcement of the State’s election laws. In this capacity, he oversaw all general and special elections and assisted local government bodies with their elections. After leaving the Secretary of State’s Office, Mr. Wood became the Executive Director of Common Cause, a public interest lobby group chartered to maintain fairness in the governmental process. While serving Common Cause, Mr. Wood drafted and helped pass much of the legislation dealing with open meetings, open records and numerous election laws that govern the operation of public entities today.
Mr. Wood is acknowledged nationally as one of the foremost authorities on public law including election law. As such, he represents many elected officials including House and Senate members and several prominent state judges. In addition, Mr. Wood served in various top level positions in the State Comptroller’s Office, including Deputy Comptroller and Chief Clerk. Mr. Wood has practiced extensively in the property tax area for more than thirty years, representing numerous taxing units on delinquent collection issues and numerous appraisal districts on valuation and related issues. Mr. Wood is a past member of the board of directors of the Travis Central Appraisal District.
Buck is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory based upon confidential surveys of the Bar and the Judiciary. He received the “very high to preeminent” rating for legal ability and the “very high” rating for ethical standards, the highest rating possible in each category. Click here for more information about Randall Buck Wood